Comparison of Metabolic Risk Factors and Physical Fitness according to Femur Osteoporotic Status in Elderly Women

Abstract

PURPOSE This study was to compare metabolic risk factors and physical fitness according to femur bone mineral density (BMD) status in elderly women. METHODS A total of 300 female participants aged 73.5±6.8 years were voluntarily recruited from local community centers. Whole body composition including body weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, percent body fat, and bone mineral density, was determined using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Metabolic risk factors, such as resting blood pressures, fasting glucose, and lipids, were assessed in fasting blood. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) followed by LSD post-hoc test, if necessary, was applied to determine significant differences in dependent variables among normal, osteopenia, and osteoporosis groups. Multivariate linear regression was used to determine significant determinants of osteoporotic status. RESULTS ANCOVA showed significant differences in upper body strength (p<.001), upper and lower body flexibility (p=.024 & .048, respectively), and appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM) (p<.001) among the osteoporotic status-based subgroups; the normal and osteopenia groups had significantly higher means in upper strength (p<.05) upper and lower strength (p<.05), and ASM (p<.05) than the osteoporosis group. Multivariate linear regression analyses revealed that age (p<.001), upper body strength (p=.035), and BMI (p=.012) were independent predictors of osteoporotic status. CONCLUSIONS Findings of this study suggest that muscular strength and BMI in conjunction with age were important factors in determining individual variability of bone health status in this study population, implying the importance of strength exercise and a healthy body weight against loss of bone density associated with aging.

Keywords

• bone mineral density
• metabolic syndrome
• physical fitness
• elderly women